brit-gob 9 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Would someone care to explain the concept of Gokon a bit to me. My Japanese colleagues seem very vague about it themselves and I hear different things. Matchmaking parties?? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 here ya go.. http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0406/0628compa.html Matchmaking parties that flourished during the halcyon days of Japan's bubble economy era in the late '80s and early '90s are going through a revival now, according to Shukan Post (7/2). It's the Internet that has sparked the trend, providing countless amounts of information where parties are usually made up of men from one company lined up opposite women from another and left to chat in the hope they'll hit it off. Standing out above most others in the plethora of information about matchmaking parties is apparently "OL Gokon Shiko (Seasonal Report on Office Ladies and Matchmaking Parties)," a book that details the preferred choice of male partners for the ubiquitous, uniform clad female office workers of Tokyo's Marunouchi and Otemachi business districts. Coming in top were guys from Dentsu Inc., the world's largest advertising company. Reasons for the Dentsu desire in dames remain various. "I heard on the news that Dentsu men have a lot of friends in the entertainment world!" gushes a 24-year-old woman working at a construction company. "Just once, I'd like to go out with a Dentsu guy." Others are slightly more serious. "(Dentsu men) have got the whole package," claims a 27-year-old department store employee. "They've got status, they're rich, they ooze personality and they know how to play the matchmaking party game." With the average Dentsu worker taking home an annual salary of 10 million yen at 30, it's not hard to see why many women find these guys come at the right price. Not far behind Dentsu, though, is Sony Corp., which was apparently attractive because of the stability it offers. "Sony pays better than any other company in the same business," a 32-year-old woman working for an electronics company says. "And, if you work there you can take long vacations regardless of how busy you are." Nearly all the other companies that followed read like a Who's Who of Japanese Business, including tourism giant Japan Travel Bureau, Mitsubishi and Hakuhodo. Though the actual results of the survey of the 4,434 women have not been released, Japan's top-selling weekly has snared some snippets from the report about the companies that weren't so popular. Unfortunately, to do so, it wasn't allowed to release their names. "Guys from Trading Company X are popular because they're rich. They are certainly fashionable and good-looking, but even during one matchmaking party they will already be making plans for the next matchmaking party they are going to. Many women complained how guys from this company were only interested in dealing exclusively with pretty women," says Amiko Miyazawa, an editor of City Living magazine and one of those who helped produce the matchmaking survey book. "At Electronics Company Y, the guys earned a reputation for splitting the bill right down to the last yen. They also bragged about how cheap they'd been able to pick up all the expensive clothes and accessories they had. People slammed them for their tightfistedness. What really stood out was just how severe everybody was." If nothing else, the survey confirmed that huge corporations providing social status remain the preferred choice for Japanese women looking for male partners. "Women want security. Famous companies offer that strong sense of security and they're probably less likely to have worthless men working for them," manga artist Mayumi Kurata tells Shukan Post. "Women's attitudes toward matchmaking parties probably give a more honest answer than most when it comes to what they're looking for in men." Link to post Share on other sites
zebedee 1 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Compa? Gokon? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Mitsubishi men have trouble with their gearboxes burning out. And their hubs fly off. Electronics Company Y must be National Panasonic. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I dont know about Gokons but I luuuuuv konpas. Especially when you break out the dice and play the Oosama game. All sorts of carnage breaks out Guys should definitely give it a try Link to post Share on other sites
merryJim 1 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 oh do tell more! Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 You'll notice that article has lots of talk about salary, which seems to be a huge issue for Japanese women. From what I remember, if a woman were to talk so frankly like that in the UK, she'd be called a gold digger and it would generally be considered bad form. I'm sure British women are equally attracted by a high salary of course, its just that they wouldnt be so vulgar as to mention it. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Yeah, you have to wonder what magnificent value proposition these 'ladies' bring to what is quite clearly a deal. I'd want evidence of more than a vague inclination towards ikebana before I decided to support one. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by montoya: "Many women complained how guys from this company were only interested in dealing exclusively with pretty women," The bastards, eh. If you look at the back pages of any "Walker" style magazine, there are dozens of ads for gokon. There are themed ones for various hobbies, divorcees, and even ones for doctors and lawyers only that cost more for women to go to. A couple of weeks back, they did a test on tv where a guy went from just a few to hundreds of hits on an Internet dating page by changing his occupation entry from blank to "lawyer". Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 "I've worked hard all through school to get to the right university, and I've kept my nose clean enough to get this prestigious, highly-paid job, now all I need to top off my achievements is an ugly woman to be my wife." Shallow bastards indeed. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 O11, Just reverse it. Woman dont care about the looks of their husbands just as long as they have the money to afford their designer bags, wallets, clothes, etc... M.J. Nope, I plead the 5th!!! Not going to incriminate myself! Link to post Share on other sites
HoTRoD 2 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Need to know - Oosama game?? Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 king gamr. I used to enjoy Doctor and Nurse game when I was a teen. Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I wonder how these Sony and Dentsu men actually have the time to go to "gokon". They may earn ￥10mil per year by the time they are 30 but if you work out how much they are earning per hour then I bet its not that great. I used to know a guy who worked for Dentsu straight out of university and he was working 100hour weeks. I dont know, he might be dead by now?! Does Sony really allow people to take "long" holidays? One friend the other day told me she had 5 days off which was a "long" holiday to her. That is so far from what a "long" holiday is ... I cant believe it. Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 No point in working yourself into the ground when you don't have the time to enjoy it, your living costs are sky high and you die early. What is the word for dying from overwork? Karoshi or something? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Mina2, Those are good too But, nothing beats the dice!!! Im sure we could tell some crazy stories Link to post Share on other sites
AET 0 Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 All the class chicks are obviously after the AETs. Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 A sad article. Link to post Share on other sites
rachael 0 Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Sad and amusing. AET - do you reckon? Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted July 7, 2004 Author Share Posted July 7, 2004 Thank you for the entertaining posts. I need more info though. Back to the Japanese friends... Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 All work and no PLAY makes jack A DULL boy! those Densu guys are Jacks. as are the sony's. All those holidays sound good on paper, but pity they can't take them all. JACK'S the lot of them! Link to post Share on other sites
slow 0 Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 I have to think what to wear for Gokon in Ginza tomorrow. This sounds like we are OL and we are wondering if we have to look like OL??? Maybe I should have a pedicure... Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 Do you go on many slow? Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 slow - you're going to one? well, you'll have to tell us what happens at one of this things afterward... Link to post Share on other sites
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